Matters of the Hart
by Hart Matters
Summary: A series of unrelated oneshots revolving around Maya Hart & Lucas Friar. Chapter 6: Shortstack — In which Maya Hart comes to school not wearing heels.
1. Pancake Breakfast

_Hello everyone! I'm pretty new to this. So bear with me, yeah?_  
 _Anyway, the chapters for this story are meant to be a series of oneshots that may or may not be within the same universe as the show._  
 _I've uploaded a couple of these so far on tumblr, but let me know what you guys think in the reviews. :)_

* * *

 **Pancake breakfast**

 _In which Maya finds out why Lucas called her a short stack of pancakes.  
_ *Starting this off with a little bit of humor! _  
_**Takes place sometime after Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels. _  
_

* * *

Maya Hart _absolutely_ hated today.

For the week prior, flyers littered the halls, announcements over the PA system were made, and reminders at the end of every single school day informed students about this day. With each reminder, Maya could feel a vein in her forehead just aching to pop.

It was now Friday morning, forty-five minutes before the bell would ring to alert everyone of the beginning of the school day. There, the 5'2" blonde—with her heels on, mind you—stood at the entrance of her middle school cafeteria eying the John Quincy Adams student body.

How dare they! Did they not know what they were doing? Did they not know the meaning behind of all this?! What traitors! It was a really good thing that her best friend Riley had her back.

"Blueberry! Banana! _Chocolate chip_ , Maya!" Her best friend—so called, might she add in at this point—looped her green canvas jacket clad arm through Maya's fishnet covered one and tugged her towards the line that wrapped around the whole lunch room. Farkle and Lucas joined soon after and it was the Minkus that noticed the permanent scowl on Maya's face.

"Ouch, Maya. Not in the mood for—"

"Don't say it—" She tried to interrupt.

" _Pancakes_!" The over joyous brunette eighth grader proclaimed, her brown eyes glazing over in absolute mirth at the sight of all the types of pancakes. Big ones, small ones, medium ones. Heart-shaped, crown-shaped, even ones that resembled lady bugs!

Lucas, the tallest of the group—seriously what was up with that? Did steroids help you get taller? Maya would have to look into that later.— started to pass trays down the line. "Really, Maya? Why the long face, you look madder than a wet hen!"

Reluctantly, Maya took the tray in her left hand and lazily slid it along the counter top. With the tilt of her head and a raise of her brow, she looked up at Bucky McBoingBoing with an expression that could only be read as, 'Are you serious right now?' And he says she never listens to the way he speaks.

A rich laugh left the Friar. "You look upset is what I'm trying to say."

Riley snapped out of her pancake fantasy as if she just had an epiphany and Maya swore she could see the gears in her head turning. "Oh oh—" she started off extremely excited, proud of her discovery, "— _oh_ …" Her enthusiasm dropped, replaced with embarrassment. "You know it probably has something to do with uh…" The girl started to rock back and forth on the heels of her shoes, waiting for the line to progress, "You know…"

Farkle nodded his head, completely on the same page now. "Oh, yes. Makes sense." He paused to turn to face Lucas directly, assuming that the City Cowboy hadn't made the connection yet. "It's 'cause you called her a short stack of pancakes."

What was that saying about assuming again?

Maya reached her hand out to smash it against Farkle's face, his nose pressed against her palm. Her glare only intensified with the rather animalistic growl that escaped her. Both Lucas and Riley cringed, trying to avoid the subject. Unfortunately, they hadn't changed the subject quick enough nor had they clamped a hand over Farkle's mouth before he could make an ass out of himself.

Now, let's set the record straight. Eric Matthews had resolved the argument. They had made up and everything was better! Okay, so maybe not everything. One: Later never came so Maya never dealt with Lucas as she promised. Two: Lucas never answered why he let Maya call her those names. But those two things were never brought up again.

Even so, Maya was still a girl of pride! Heck, she knew she was short but being called out on it was just not something she took lightly.

Finally, she dropped her hand and wiped her palm on her pant leg, ridding it of the Farkle germs. The line finally started moving and everyone received their pancakes.

Riley opted for six mini chocolate chip pancakes in the shape of crowns. She mentioned how it was what the princess of the student body deserved. Farkle made sure that each and every single pancake in his tall stack was symmetrical. This aggravated Geralyn the Lunch Lady to no end. Lucas had a small stack of regular pancakes on his own plate. And after some persuasion from her friends, Maya was now sitting at a table, surrounded by said friends, staring at a stack of pancakes that started at about the same size of her hand then gradually got smaller until the top of the stack.

With a scrunch of her nose, Maya sighed heavily and rolled her eyes before reaching a hand out to the middle of the table. "Fork over the syrup, Huckleberry!" Lucas stretched his own hand out to give her the syrup. No 'thanks' in reply, typical Maya. Regardless of her lack of manners, the gentleman that Lucas was tipped his imaginary hat and winked across the table.

Maya sat silently, eating at her pancakes while the rest of her friends were engulfed in a conversation about Belgium, 1831. She herself was having a small conversation in her head.

" _The Pros and Cons of Eating These Pancakes_ " by Maya Hart.

They were really good. Like extremely good. But they cost 5 bucks! The five dollars did go to the Wounded Warrior Project. She could have saved those five dollars and instead eaten at the Matthews'. But it was toaster strudel again. These pancakes were delicious though… But hey, wait! Eating these pancakes would mean she succumbed to Ranger Rick's torment! It would mean giving in and accepting that she _was_ in fact a short stack of pancakes! I mean, yeah she was short, but still. Ah screw it, these pancakes were the best she's ever had!

By the time she had made up her mind, she was already on her last bite of pancakes.

She looked up, only to find four empty plates on trays and only one other person at the table with her.

"Where'd Farkle and Riley go?"

"They headed over to class," Lucas had this huge grin on his face and she couldn't quite figure out why it was there. "They left 'bout five minutes ago, but you were busier than a one-legged cat in a sandbox eating at your pancakes."

Again, she gave him the same look as before. She shook her head, as if she didn't quite catch what he had said. Her eyes were blinking rapidly, confusion written all over her face. "I'm sorry, Ranger Rick say what now?"

He looked down at the trays and laughed to himself before getting up and piling them on top of one another, heading towards the garbage can. Maya stood up and followed behind him.

"I meant that you were way too caught up in that head of yours to notice that they were gone. They even called out to you to get your attention. Said they'd just wait for you, but I told 'em to go on ahead." After sliding the scraps off the plates, Lucas went to the conveyer belt that would take the plates and trays to the back where Lunch Lady Geralyn would scrub them down. Again, Maya followed.

She stood there, all 5'2" of her, eyes full of determination. Her hands where at her hips, one cocked to the side. She meant business. It seemed that _now_ —when it was just herself and Lucas Friar— was _later_.

It had been a question on her mind since he uttered those words, though it was stashed in a small closet in the back of her mind, saving it for the opportune moment.

"Of all the things, Bucky McBoingboing, why a 'short stack of pancakes'?" Her voice came in a mock southern accent, way thicker than Lucas', but hey. It was for added effect!

Lucas couldn't help but bite his lip to hold back his laughter. There was no way he could take her seriously. She was short enough that the top of her head only came to the bottom of his chin. He could easily toss her over her shoulder and drag her to class with him. His legs were long enough that he could out run her without much effort. Oh, she also had a little bit of syrup smeared on her upper lip.

"I'm sorry, but you're really not hat threatening with a syrup mustache, Short stack." Without hesitation, he reached a hand out and with his thumb, wiped away the syrup. Lucas then looked down at his thumb, messy with the syrup before shrugging and putting the digit into his mouth.

Maya stared at him as if he had grown an extra head right then and there in front of her own two eyes.

"Oh, and well. I like pancakes. My mama would make 'em for me and told me I shouldn't have too many or my stomach would start hurtin'. She always gave me a short stack. But you know..." he paused and grinned, tipping his imaginary cowboy hat before walking away towards class, still facing her direction, "...A short stack _always_ left me wantin' more." Lucas then turned around and started a slow jog to Mr. Matthews' classroom.

A staccato of ' _Ooh_ 's left Maya's lips. Maya stared at Lucas' retreating form in utter shock.


	2. 2am texts

_I think I'm going to put a little summary of the current chapter in the story's synopsis/summary. Please review and let me know what you might even want to see eventually!  
_

* * *

 **Matters of the Hart: 2 AM Texts  
** _In which an extremely jet-lagged Lucas Friar lets Maya know she doesn't have to grow up yet._

*Contains some friendship, little bit of romance? _  
_**Takes place after Girl meets Tell-Tale-Tot  
***Important formatting to know:  
 _Emphasis on words.  
_ _'Thoughts'  
_ _"_ **Lucas' texts"  
** **" _Maya's texts"_**

* * *

Bliss.

Pure bliss.

That is what Maya was in as she laid down on her bed, the red light from the bunny-mart down the street illuminating her warm room every so often. Her right hand was in her hair while a smile danced upon her pink lips, matching the rosy hue of her cheeks. She was a love-sick fool.

With a dreamy sigh and a giggle, she rolled over to stuff her face into her pillow to squeal in all her giddiness. It had been a couple of hours after her talk with Josh at Riley's window sill. Okay, well it wasn't _just_ with Josh. Riley, Topanga, and Corey were there, too. But what mattered was that now, Josh saw her in a new light! And at the time, she seemed solemn. She was still bummed over the fact that she saw Josh flirting with some college girls. She was also feeling the weight maturity on her shoulders. She had to grow up. If she wanted Josh to notice her and take her crush on him seriously, a little bit of maturing was needed.

But right now?

By now she had analyzed the whole conversation, everything that happened between the two of them: every word he said, every expression he made. And after analyzing it all, she knew one thing: Joshua Matthews no longer saw her as " _Riley's best friend_ " or " _That girl that has this silly crush on me_ ". He saw her as _"Maya Hart, the mature 8th grader"_.

Suddenly, Maya felt her pillow vibrate. Lifting her head out of her pillow, she reached a hand underneath it to grab her cellphone. On the harsh bright screen read, "New Message. Lucas Friar." She looked at the time: 2:00 AM. What was Lucas doing texting her so late—early? Late-early. She went with that one.

The blonde rolled over onto her back, holding the phone above her head as she squinted to read the bright screen. She was barely able to read it.

" **Shortstack! Sorry for texting super late. I just got off my flight. Riley's definitely asleep. Farkle won't answer my text and Zay is probably too busy playing CoD or something to look at his phone. What did I miss while I was gone?** "

" _Oh, that's right_ ", she thought. She now remembered that Zay was the one who sat behind her the last couple of days in the week. No _wonder_ class was harder to sit through. There was no Ranger Rick to banter back and forth with!

With a scowl, Maya began to text him back.

" ** _Shut it with that Shortstack stuff Hopalong. Of course Riley's asleep. She likes to be in bed by 9:15. Where were you anyway?_** "

She sent the text and placed the phone on her chest, waiting for a text back.

Shortly after, her phone vibrated again.

" **Texas. Cousin got married. It was great, on a ranch with the sunset behind them and everything. It's really great out there. Wish I coulda taken you.** "

What was that?

" **All of you*** "

Oh.

" ** _There's more of you? Oh joy. Well, while you were gone Cory taught us about conscience. Some Tale-tell Heart thing. Tater tots. You know, all that mushy stuff?_** "

That's all that happened, right?

" ** _Oh yeah, and Riley and I went to a college party to see Josh. He got accepted into NYU! :-D_** "

 _"Nice, Maya. Use that smiley face,"_ she couldn't help how elated she was and being able to share it with someone—other than Riley and the Matthews— felt _so_ good!

" **WHAT?!1!?1!?** "

There was a pause between the last text and the next. Why was he overreacting?

" **You went to a COLLEGE party? With RILEY? You guys didn't get hurt or anything right? You guys didn't drink right? No one slipped anything into them, right?! Did Mr. and Mrs. Matthews know?!** "

Maya raised a brow at her phone screen. She couldn't hide the small smirk that played on her lips.

" ** _Awh, Ranger Rick. Nice to know you cared. But no. They didn't know. Riles and I snuck out. Don't get your panties in a bunch, nothing like that happened. Actually, you know what, Riley really enjoyed it. And I mean REALLY. We met up with Josh there and… well he was getting his flirt on with some college chick and blah blah blah got jealous yada yada. At the end of the day… well wait no. End of the next day. Which was today. Wait… yesterday? LOL! As in before 12 am, I told Cory and Topanga the truth. Riley was gonna cave and tell them anyway so I decided I'd beat her to it… And it was the grown up thing to do._** "

" **Well I'm really proud of you Pancakes. :] There is good in you! lol** "

" ** _I'll ignore what you did there. :( But thanks! Josh thought it was really mature of me and I think this means he doesn't just see me as three years younger! I told myself that growing up was something that was necessary if I wanted Josh to take me seriously, you know?_** "

Maya sighed again, placing her phone down. She closed her eyes and replayed the whole scene again in her head. Her and Josh—she left out the rest of the Matthews in her version— at the bay window. He looked over at her with this sort of smile and she _knew_ there was something different in his eyes. It was like he was seeing her in a new light. Literally. In her imagination, there was this light shining down on her, making her look ethereal. Cue the fans, blowing her hair back to give her that hollywood movie star appeal. And just like in the movies, Josh leaned closer to her. She leaned close to him as well and then—

 ** _Vrrrrr! Vrrrrr!_**

 _'Stupid phone,'_ Maya exhaled deeply, growling and cursing Lucas for interrupting her _wonderful_ retelling/fantasy.

" **You know, Maya. I'm really happy that you did the right thing. Mr. Matthews' teaching of conscience really hit you.** "

She was in the middle of typing something along the lines of "Yeah, I know" but he had texted back before she could even get passed the first word.

" **… But you really shouldn't have to change for anyone to like you.** "

Maya raised a brow.

" ** _I'm NOT changing for anyone. I have to grow up sometime._** "

" **Yeah. I know, but…** "

" **I'm just saying. Don't feel like you need to grow up too fast. If you do, then you might not be the Maya we all know. Grow up on your own time and enjoy being a kid with the rest of us while we still can, you know? I mean, growing up means getting a job, paying taxes, going to jury duty. Who wants that?** "

Maya's smile had previously faded, confused at first at what Lucas had meant. But as she read over his text, the smile came back. It wasn't as big as it was when she thought about Josh. It was a small smile, a genuine one. The kind you gave someone when you really couldn't help but want to let out an "Awwwwh."

Lucas _did_ have a point. Taxes? Ew. Jury duty? Who wanted to go to some hot and cramped court house only to find out you're not needed—and if you _are_ needed, you just sit around listening to some boring story about a traffic citation? _Not_ Maya, that was for sure.

She guessed she took too long to reply, because Lucas had just sent his third text in a row.

" **Uh. I don't know what I'm saying. I guess, it's like… You don't need to grow up Maya. I mean, not now. Not when this is supposed to be the time to learn about ourselves and each other. Uh, that's not it. Ummm. Chimney, this is hard…** "

Maya couldn't help but laugh out loud. And, oh crap. He sent another. He didn't even give her enough time to respond!

" **Look. Maybe you passed out. Maybe you're not going to read this until you wake up. Maybe you're asleep and your phone died! I don't know which one it is, but I'm trying to explain to you 1) don't grow up too fast. and 2) you don't have to change yourself for a guy. There's gonna be a guy that likes you for who you are and will grow up with you. Trust me. He's out there.** "

She smiled. He wasn't very good at his words, but he was really trying.

And another one.

" **I like you, Maya. Just the way you are.** "

 _'… What?'_

" **Yeah, you're definitely asleep. Haha, well I hope you read this in the morning when you wake up and it cheers you up! Let's not make this awkward when we see each other at school, yeah? Well… goodnight. :]** "

No! She wasn't asleep! He just texted too fast and she was an over analyst—well, not _usually_ , but tonight was a different story— and she needed to know what he meant!

"Screw the texting," Maya grumbled out. She hit the green button on her phone to call him. Lucas picked it up immediately.

"Hello…?" He sounded super sleepy.

"Hey uh.. what was that all about?" Maya bit on her lower lip, the phone pressed to her ear and her eyes trained on the ceiling above her.

"Just saying what was on my mind. I mean, I like Josh. He's a cool fella'. I don't know, I'm honestly not making any sense right now. My mind's goin' crazy cause I just came back from Texas and I'm supposed to be asleep but I can't but I'm so tired," Lucas just kept going on and on with no pauses in between, "I'm just… jet lagged. Sorry, haha. But hey, we should both try and get some sleep."

Maya smirked on her end. She found delirious Lucas quite enjoyable. "Alright, Bucky McBoingBoing. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

She hung up and rolled her eyes. What a doofus.

 ** _Vrrr! Vrrr!_**

" **By the way. I do like you.** "

 _'Jet lag'_ , she reminded herself.

" **I mean it.** "

She stared at her phone, held in her hands, a smile dancing on her pink lips that matched the rosy hue of her cheeks.


	3. Power Outage

**_Power Outage_  
** _In which Lucas Friar lets Maya Hart know he's here to stay._

 ***** Fluff contained.  
 ****** Tiny smidge of angst.

* * *

 _Taptaptaptaptap._

A rapid succession of tapping was heard throughout the 8th grade classroom as Corey Matthews lectured on about his current lesson of the day. He had his back turned to the class, writing something or other on the board. After underlining whatever it was, he turned around on his heel, eyes looking over at the blonde who sat in the front next to his own daughter.

"Maya Hart, is something wrong?"

Maya straightened her slack posture in her seat, realizing that it had been her making that noise. She had been tapping her pencil against her empty notebook while staring at the clock, counting the seconds as they went by. "No, sir. I'm sorry."

 _Odd_. When was Maya Hart ever this polite?

With a slight tilt of his head and a purse of his lips, Corey nodded his head slowly. "Alright then."

Unbeknownst to ever herself, her fingers started moving again and before her pencil could hit her notebook there was a tap on her shoulder. Maya turned herself around with more effort than usual to look at the perpetrator, her arm wasn't laying against Lucas' desk for some reason. This was when she realized that it usually was. ' _Oh well_ ,' she thought.

With the biggest smile she could muster—which was extremely tiny on this specific day— she looked over at the tall boy that sat behind her, placing both her hands on his desk this time. "Yes, Ranger Rick?"

Lucas Friar looked at her with a small lopsided smile. He could tell that she was trying really hard to seem like her usual self. He wasn't sure why she was acting this way, but he wanted to cheer her up.

And to also stop that tapping.

He reached out his hand to grab the green pencil from Maya's fingers and smiled wider, "I'll be taking this, ma'am," Lucas took both ends of the pencil and started to play with it in his hands. "Lil stack of pancakes like you shouldn't have such sharp objects 'round her," his southern drawl was thicker than it normally was. It was his attempt to cheer his poor friend up.

Maya looked at him with a raised eye brow and sighed, a small chuckle escaping her, "Yeah, alright. Whatever." With a shrug of her shoulders, Maya turned back around to face the board.

' _What was that_?' Lucas frowned at the back of her blonde head. There was definitely something wrong.

Before he could question it any further, the bell rang.

The school day went very similar as to how it had during history class with Lucas trying to cheer Maya up with self-deprecating jokes pertaining to his country background and Maya just giving a weak laugh and shrugging it off.

Thankfully, school was now over. Lucas, Maya, Riley, and Farkle were by the lockers when Lucas was eying Maya's form leaned against the lockers with her books in one hand and eyes downcast waiting for riley to fetch her things.

"Maya, s'wrong with you today? You're not playing our little game right," Lucas frowned as he looked down at the short blonde, eyes momentarily glancing at Riley and Farkle for help.

"Uh, hey! Movie night at my place?" Riley closed her locker with a huge smile on her face, the dimple in her cheek ever prominent. Farkle grabbed his backpack straps on his shoulders and nodded, his hair moving with the gesture. "Yeah! That sounds, great,Riley!"

Lucas nodded his head as well, a smile on his face, too. "Yeah, good idea! 'Bout you short stack?"

Maya was looking down at her phone in her hand before she snapped her head back. She seemed distracted and only now did she check into the conversation. "Uh… Yeah, sounds good to me." Again, that small smile formed on her lips.

"Alright, so it's settled?" Riley combed her hand through her hair and then looped an arm around Maya's, tugging her up to no longer lean on the wall. "The boys will grab some snacks on their way to my place and we'll find the movie."

It was then that Mr. Matthews exited the classroom by the lockers and closed the door, letting himself in on their conversation. "Movie night? Our house, Riley? Well, I hope you don't mind your mom and I joining. And Auggie. Where the lights will be on."

Farkle looked through out his friend group before shrugging his shoulders. "Yeah, I don't see why not! Not like this was a double date or anything. Not again, anyway."

At this, Riley's cheeks heated up from embarrassment, and looked towards red exit signs on top of the middle school's front doors. She tugged Maya along, "Anyway, see you guys there!"

It was about two hours later when the four of them were joined by the rest of the Matthews all huddled up in front of the television set. They were watching Maze Runner, the DvD that both Maya and Riley had decided on.

On the couch sat Topanga and Corey with the youngest member of the Matthews Family between them. In front of them on the coffee table sat a huge bowl of popcorn, Twizzlers, some cans of soda, and an assortment of chips. On either sides of the table were Farkle and Lucas leaving Maya and Riley to sit in front of it.

"Maya! Dylan O'Brien is doing the thing!" Riley exclaimed, tugging on her best friend's arm as if to grab her attention and divert it to the screen. Maya nodded her head with the same exact small smile that had been plastered on her lips the whole entire day. "Yeah, he looks great."

Riley tore her eyes from the screen and whipped her head around to look directly at Maya. "Wha— You're crazy about Dylan O'baerin!" It was a nickname that Maya had dubbed for the handsome actor. "There has to be someth—" The Television went black, the lights turned off.

It was then that the electricity went out.

Corey yelped out, a very high scream that one would not expect from a grown man.

"Everyone remain calm," Topanga was currently trying to keep everyone from freaking out, especially Farkle who was breathing rather heavily. "Auggie, sweetie, please get off mommy's lap and help me find some flashlights."

In the dark, Auggie raised a brow, "Huh? Mommy, I'm not in your lap. That's dad." You could almost hear Topanga roll her eyes. "Of course it is…" Corey then cleared his throat and got off of his wife's lap and stood up, stubbing his toe on the coffee table in the process.

"Mommy," he squeaked out, quiet and in a high pitched tone.

Topanga stood up and grabbed Auggie's hand as well as Corey's. "We're going to look for flash lights. You kids gather as many candles as you can."

"On it, Mom!" Riley shot up from her spot on the floor. "There are some in the kitchen and my room." Farkle followed Riley's example and was behind her in seconds, "I volunteer to help you find the one's in the kitchen, Riles!" Riley sighed for dramatic effect and stomped her feet over to the kitchen with Farkle. "You know," the brown haired boy started, "They say that your other senses are heightened in the dark…"

Lucas laughed, only imagining where Farkle would be going with that one. , Maya could hear him standing up from where she sat, "That leaves you and me to grab the ones in Riley's room, Maya." In the dark, she could barely see the outline of his face. He was staring directly down at her, as if he could see her as plain as day. The blond girl placed an arm on the table using it as leverage to help herself up. "Yup, you and me, Hopalong."

Both Lucas and Maya found their way to Riley's room with the help of Maya's fingertips grazing against the walls and Lucas' hands stretched out in front of him. There were a couple of incidents where Lucas would accidentally brush his hands along Maya's blonde locks of hair. He would murmur out a 'Sorry', to which she would reply, 'It's fine, really'.

"Found one!" Lucas exclaimed, his voice carrying a sense of pride, rather proud he had found a candle in Riley's room—which was littered with little trinkets and tidbits—all by himself. By the candle was a book of matches. Fumbling with it in the dark, Lucas opened it up and struck a match, lighting the lavender scented candle in it's mason-like jar. He picked it up, intending to bring it downstairs with him.

He turned around on his heel, finding Maya sitting at the bay window, staring out into the dark sky. The tall teenaged boy brought the candle with him as he moved to sit beside her.

"It's pretty," she began. A few minutes of silence passed between the two before she spoke again. "The sky. What with the lights out for blocks, you can see the night sky for what it is. Not obscured by the city's neon lights." Maya's eyes never once left the big open space of the sky.

Lucas, nodded, letting his hand that held the candle rest on his lap while his other hand supported his weight on the bench. "Yeah. Back home, in Texas, we had this ranch and you could see all the stars you could imagine." His eyes were trained on Maya. Not once did he blink.

The hot warm air of the unexpected pre-summer heat wave made his cheeks flush a soft pink hue, at least that is what he told himself. He knew, though, that it was because of this girl sitting in front of him. Her hair was softly haloed by the candle light, her cheeks glowing with a soft orange tint. Her blue eyes twinkled like the stars he saw back home on the ranch.

Maya sighed, pulling Lucas out of his trance-like state that he was in. "You know today was the day that my dad left my mom and me." Her eyes were now downcast, staring at her hands folded neatly in her lap. She sighed again, biting on her lower lip as if she were trying to stop herself from crying.

Lucas shook his head, remembering what she mentioned about people leaving her. He knew that she was always wary about people getting too close to just leave her in the end. He hoped that he had gotten to the same point that Riley was at, where Maya wouldn't have to question if he was staying or not. He hoped that she would know that he was here to stay.

"You know, I'm not going to leave, right?" As if to get his point across, Lucas scooted closer to Maya on the bench and held the candle up so he could see her face. His face scrunched up in pain seeing how close to tears she was.

To him, Maya was this tough girl that didn't take slack from anyone. She had this hard exterior that she would never let anyone through. No one would see her fall down. But right here in front of him was Maya Hart, as vulnerable as she could be and all he wanted to do was wipe the tears that spilled onto her cheeks, pull her close, and whisper that everything was going to be okay into her hair; Riley, Farkle, the Matthews would never leave her. Especially him. He wouldn't leave no matter how hard she would try and push him away.

Maya looked at Lucas directly in the eyes now, her blues staring into his greens. She let the tears fall freely now.

"Do you ever wonder how many people have told you they loved you, but never meant it?"

Lucas swallowed hard, the lump in his throat hard to force down. He breathed in heavily and took a moment to think his response through. He was hesitant, if only to make sure that he worded his next sentence correctly.

"Or… Or have loved you, but never told you?"

Maya's eyes widened in shock, struck speechless by this southern gentleman in the candlelight. She felt exposed. She felt vulnerable. Maya Hart felt like this—this _Bucky McBoingBoing_ was staring into her soul and unraveling her at the seams. She honestly didn't quite know if she liked it.

She felt her heart race, her palms sweat, and she closed her eyes and leaned closer to him. She didn't want him seeing her like this. This was too close, it would hurt even more if he ever left her.

She blew out the candle.

What happened next startled her and she would never forget it.

Lucas sloppily tossed the jarred candle aside and dove his face into hers. His hands instinctively cupped her face as if to keep her in place while he showed her that he wouldn't leave. He had no intention of it.

Maya exhaled deeply as her lips pressed against his, letting out a breath she had no idea she was holding. Her hand timidly grabbed at his wrist. In her vulnerable state, she wanted to believe him. She wanted to know and never question that he would never leave. She held onto his wrist in her small hand so that she could keep him there with her in that moment.

In an instant, the lights turned back on and they could hear Riley and the rest of them calling out their names, wondering where they had gone off to.

The two of them pulled away, eyes looking into each other's. Lucas pressed his forehead against hers and with his hand on her cheek, he used his thumb to brush away the tears that stained Maya's cheeks.

They both sighed, both extremely relieved that Lucas' message was conveyed through his actions.

Riley's screamed out for them, worried for her friends.

"Coming!" Maya yelled out in response, her usual playful irritation back in her voice now.

Maya dropped her hand and a small smile was displayed upon her pink lips. This time though, it was a very genuine smile. Before joining Riley before her best friend had a panic attack, she placed the quickest peck on Lucas' nose.

Lucas sat there with this silly grin on his face as he watched Maya Hart get up from the window bench, pick up the forgotten candle on the floor and make her way to the Matthews and Farkle.

* * *

 **There you have it! Might have been a little rushed, but I wanted to get out something with a nice little Lucaya moment. Do me a huge favor out of the kindness of your hearts? Leave a review! It helps me know you guys are liking what I'm putting out which in turn helps me roll these oneshots out quicker! Thanks! :)**


	4. Storms

_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, it means so much to me!  
_ _And to Kelsey, I'll definitely work on that request of yours, so be on the lookout!_

* * *

 **Storms  
** _In which Riley Matthews is the calm before the storm that is Maya Hart and Lucas decides that he can handle a couple of thunderstorms.  
_ ***** _AU: Time set in high school._

* * *

It was a hot and humid summer day in New York. It looked like the sky was on fire. Burnt orange and brick reds painted the sky that could be seen from Lucas' window. Riley and Lucas could see dark gray clouds starting to make their way above the city, but everything was quiet. The streets below weren't empty, but only a soft whirring of engines could be heard. The air was devoid of angry honking and even angrier screaming. Not even the ice cream truck was blaring it's notorious 'Pop Goes the Weasel' tune through a megaphone.

It was calm.

Lucas glanced at his wrist watch, ' _3:37 pm_ ' he noted. He sat on his desk chair, legs spread a part with his elbows on his knees, hunched over slightly. The rise in temperature had Lucas dressed for the heat, adorning blue basketball shorts and a white muscle tee, a black Nike swoosh in the center. He rubbed his hands together, anxious as he looked at the brunette sitting at the foot of his bed.

Riley was in a navy blue and white sleeveless romper, hair tied up in a bun to expose her neck to the air. She was looking everywhere but Lucas. Her eyes went to pictures of her with Lucas, Maya, Farkle, and Zay to numerous baseball trophies on shelves and a Suicide Squad movie poster on the wall. Her hands were neatly folded in her lap, legs together, flip-flop feet planted on the floor.

Finally, their eyes met and Riley was the first to say something. " _So_ …"

Lucas heaved out a sigh, nodding his head slowly. "Yeah, _so_ …"

If Lucas were being completely honest, it was definitely a moment he knew was coming, but he had no idea how hard it was going to be for the both of them.

"You know why I'm here, right?" Riley peered over to him through long thick lashes, that innocent and wide-eyed puppy dog expression imprinted into his mind.

He sat up straight, rubbing a hand at his perspiring neck. "Yeah. I know."

Riley nodded and bit on her lip letting out a sigh as well. "You can't say you didn't see this coming. Things aren't quite the same."

Again, Lucas nodded. "I know, I just didn't think it would come to this." He looked towards Riley who gave him the sweetest smile that held a sadness in it.

"Neither did I. But it's better now, right? Better we do it _now_ than just waiting it out and then sometime down the road, we realize we can't do it anymore. And I _don't_ want it to get that far, where we start to hate each other." Riley wrung out her hands, hoping that Lucas would understand what she was trying to get across.

"No, yeah. I agree. It just _sucks_ , you know?" Lucas looked up at the ceiling, it was really hard to look at Riley. They had been dating for two and a half years now—the middle of freshman year— and somewhere in the midst of it all, something just clicked. It clicked for the both of them. They both knew that they weren't who they were supposed to be with.

"Oh, trust me, Lucas. I _know_." Riley smiled a little wider, but still with sadness. "But we can't keep going like this. It isn't fair. It's not fair for you or me. And I know that you know that we _both_ know that we could be happier with other people." Riley paused. In that pause, Lucas looked at her for a second before looking down at the ground. He had his right arm crossed against his chest, tucked under his left arm which was outstretched, playing with the hem of his basketball shorts. When he didn't say anything, she continued. "And I know that you know who I'm talking about."

Lucas looked at her again, a small smirk playing on his lips. "Farkle?" A blush came across Riley's cheeks. She would blame it on the heat, but Lucas knew. "And let's not forget a certain blonde." Lucas gave out a sigh in relief. Saying it out loud, the both of them, took a weight off of his shoulders. By the slight slump of Riley's shoulders, he could say that it took a weight off of hers as well.

Riley started to fidget with her fingers, staring at her hands in her lap. "Maybe… we needed this."

Lucas raised a brow, leaning forward in his chair, placing his elbows on his knees again to look Riley in the eyes. "What do you mean?"

Riley mimicked his position, leaning forward herself now and staring him back in the eyes. "I _mean_ , maybe we needed each other to know that we _don't_ need each other. I mean, in this way. Maybe we needed this to help us figure out what—no, _who_ we wanted."

Lucas blinked slowly, trying to wrap his mind around what she was trying to say. "You mean… We needed to date in order to learn that we _shouldn't_ date?"

Riley laughed a little and shrugged her shoulders. "Kind of. I guess what I'm trying to say is that we needed this relationship to realize that we didn't want each other. Not romantically anyway. Not for the long run. Now we know what works for us and what doesn't." Riley got up and started to pace his room. "We're more experienced now. Lucas, we didn't date anyone else before we got together. Freshman year Maya took you aside and told you to _man up_. To ask me out. And you did!"

Lucas' eyes followed Riley back and forth. "Yeah. And I wanted to, as well! I didn't feel _pressured_ or anything."

Riley knelt down in front of him, taking his hands in hers. "No. I know you didn't. I'm not saying this relationship was a mistake. It wasn't! It was…" She paused, trying to think of the right words.

Lucas understood now. He nodded, a small smile on his lips. "A growing experience."

Riley smiled back at him, a twinkle in her eyes. "Exactly. And we've grown and learnt as much as we could from each other." Riley stood up now, extending an arm out to Lucas who was still sitting in his chair.

Lucas took it with a smile. He breathed in a heavy breath and let it out before taking her helping hand, pulling himself up. Standing now, Lucas stood a few inches above her. She wrapped her arms around his torso, wrapping him up in a warm embrace. Lucas hugged her back. He whispered into her hair, "So what about Maya and Farkle?"

She laughed, face pressed against his chest. "Well, Maya is probably going to come beat you up. I'll tell her that it was a mutual break-up, but you know that it's absolutely no use." Lucas' laugh vibrated in his chest. "Farkle will understand. Then I'll send him your way." He took her by the shoulders and stepped back to see her face. He added a wink for effect.

Riley blushed again and rolled her eyes. "Good luck with Maya."  
Lucas nodded and sighed a little, leading her out of his room and out the front door. "You gonna get home alright?"

Riley nodded and stepped out of the door. "I'm a big girl. Remember, Maya taught me how to aim for the groin."

Lucas nodded and leaned against his door frame. Riley smiled up at him and placed a small kiss on his cheek. "Thanks Lucas." She turned to leave, heading for the subway station. With a wave, Lucas called out to her. "I'll see you later?" Riley turned her head back to him and nodded, a huge smile on her face. "Well _duh_. Enchilada Friday is tomorrow at my house!"

Lucas looked up at the sky. The gray clouds were closer than they were when he and Riley were upstairs in his room. The sky was devoid of birds or planes. The streets were still eerily quiet. His neighbor's dogs weren't even barking. He didn't make anything of it.

Lucas climbed up the stairs and back into the apartment he shared with his mom. "Dinner's ready, sweetie! Is Riley still here?" His mom peeped her head out through the kitchen door. He entered the kitchen and shook his head. "No ma'am. We just broke up."

At the table now, sitting across from Lucas, his mom placed a comforting hand over his. "I'm sorry, honey." He shook his head at her, a smile on his lips. "It's okay, Mama. We're both gonna be okay."

 ***~[*]~***

It was after dinner now and Lucas was laying in his bed. He had his arms stretched out with his hands falling off the edge. His legs were stretched with his feet in a similar fashion. Green eyes stared at the ceiling, just as they had done when Riley was over earlier in the day. Unlike earlier; however, the gray clouds were finally over head.

He had his blinds closed, blocking the flashes of lightning that illuminated the dark streets. Every so often, the loud clapping of thunder shook his whole apartment. The rain beat violently against his window. It was no wonder he couldn't hear the rapping of a certain Maya Hart.

"Loverboy, open up!" Lucas sat up quickly, taken out of his daze. From the moment he swung his legs over his bed up until he opened up the blinds, Maya didn't stop knocking on his window. As he opened up the window, a perplexed expression took over his face. "What the heck, Maya?! Why are you out in this storm?" She climbed in through the window and didn't skip a beat, quickly taking the fabric of Lucas' muscle tee in her fists and pulling him towards her.

"What did you do to Riley." It wasn't a question. She was demanding the answer. "She said it was mutual, but I _don't_ believe it. Not one bit." Her narrowed eyes were a stormy blue, a mirror of the storm outside and probably the storm raging within her.

Lucas took her small hands in his much larger ones and loosened her hold on him. She was soaking wet. Her light-wash ripped denim jeans were soaked, water droplets running down the exposed patches of her skin. Maya's slouchy and oversized gray shirt clung onto her skin. Her normally wavy hair was wet and stuck against her face and neck. Where she stood, a small puddle started to form and his socks were beginning to soak all of the wetness up. "Maya. You're completely drenched."

He took a hand of hers and led her to sit on his bed. He would deal with his wet sheets later. Right now, making sure Maya didn't end up sick was way more important to him. He grabbed some towels from a closet in the hallway and came back in his room, tossing one of the towels on the floor where the puddle was. He wrapped another towel around Maya, and the last one on top of her head. She sat down, seemingly exhausted, she was breathing rather heavily as if she were trying to catch her breath.

Lucas bent down in front of her, looking her in the eyes. "Did you run all the way here?"

Maya peered down at him and nodded very slightly, "Yeah, from Ril—wait, no! What does that matter?!" Abruptly, she stood up, dropping the towels back onto his bed. She stomped her heeled foot on the ground. "Why? Why did you break up with her?! Tell me!" Her eyes watched him as he rose from his spot on the ground, towering more than a head above her.

There was something in her eyes akin to both determination and desperation; she was both determined to get an answer and desperate. Lucas shook his head, taking her hands in his again. "I didn't break up with her."

"So she broke up with you?" She withdrew her hands and placed them behind her in balled fists. She was shaking, and Lucas wasn't sure if it was from anger or from being soaking wet.

Lucas sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with one of his hands, the other one facing upward while placed between them, begging her to understand. "No, Maya. It wasn't like that at all."

"Then what _is_ it like, Huckleberry? Because Riley and you are not together anymore. You two were _perfect_ for each other! I finally got you to ask her out and now you're just _not together_ anymore?" Maya started to pace back and forth. At least the towels earlier had soaked up most of the water.

Lucas followed behind her, dragging a towel with his foot to dry the wet floor she left behind her. "Maya, what did Riley tell you?"

The blonde girl growled and rolled her eyes. "She told me it was a _mutual_ break up," whe said mutual with air quotes around them. "But I don't believe that." Thunder crashed outside and lightning lit up the room. The apartment lights flickered off and on just once. "How could the most perfect couple in the world break up mutually?!" Maya felt exhausted just trying to understand what happened between two of her dearest friends.

Lucas grabbed a hold of Maya's wrist and spun her around to face him. He grabbed onto her arms and kept her there, lowering his head to become eye level with her. "Maya. It just happened, okay?"

Maya shook her head, her wet blonde hair following the movements of her head. " _What_ happened, Lucas? Tell me. Say it. Say it out loud, say it for _me_." Petite hands grabbed onto Lucas' arms, mirroring his actions. Her nails dug into the boy's tanned skin. She was desperate, pleading for him to say out loud what she wanted to hear from him.

"I _need_ to hear it from _you_ ," Maya's face started to lean forward towards his own. "I need to hear you say it, so _please_ tell me that you and Riley ended things _mutually_ and I'll believe you." It was imperative that Maya Hart knew that he and Riley were fine after the break up from in his words. She needed to know that everything was and would be okay.

Lucas reached a hand to wipe Maya's hair out of her face. "I _promise_ you, Maya Hart. Riley and I are okay. We broke up _mutually_. We _both_ wanted it. There was _nothing_ left for us there." By this time, their lips were so close to touching. Watching Maya lick her lips in anticipation hitched a breath within him. Her eyes were trained on his own lips. They both swallowed a lump that had grown in their throats.

"Good." Maya took a deep breath and pressed her lips against Lucas' in a small and innocent kiss. She pulled her lips away from him and pressed her wet body against his in a warm embrace. Lucas' clothes were getting soaked, but he didn't care. He lifted his arms from his sides and placed them around the small girl that clung to him.

They stayed in that position for awhile, taking comfort in each other's silence while the storm raged on outside. Eventually though, Lucas got Maya to dry off and change into one of his spare long-sleeve shirts and some shorts that had a draw-string on them.

While she changed in the bathroom, Lucas convinced his mom to let Maya stay the night. At first, Mrs. Friar rose a skeptical brow, an expression that Lucas mimicked back. It was a rather bold move to pull on his mother, but she only smiled.

When Lucas told Maya that he wanted her to stay the night, she pouted and put up a bit of a fight. But there was no way that Lucas was letting her out in that storm. They were now cuddled up in his bed. Maya under his covers—he had replaced them and thankfully the rain water didn't seep into the mattress—while Lucas stayed on top, reassuring her that he was still a gentleman. They laid facing each other, Maya's head tucked under his chin.

It didn't take long for Maya to fall asleep, her breathing evened out within minutes. Lucas glanced down at her with a small smile playing on his lips. His right hand was tucked under Maya's body, the left hand wrapped around her middle. He watched her sleep, thinking about the feisty blonde bundle asleep in his arms.

Maya was unpredictable. Tonight was evidence of it. One moment she could be angry, the other she could be sad. He could never guess what she was thinking, he could only assume. She kept him on his toes, always guessing. She would use nicknames laced with venom when talking to him one moment, and the next his full name with all sincerity. She had a sharp tongue, every nickname and every playful tease made him laugh on the inside. Maya seemed to have a never ending list of things to make fun of him for.

Maya Hart wasn't neatly folded hands and rainbows. She wasn't butterflies and the ocean breeze. She wasn't a calm summer day. Maya Hart was rebellious. She was coloring outside the lines. She was a riptide, a series of crashing waves. She was a hurricane, she was thunder, she was lightning, she was a summer storm.

And Lucas could definitely handle a couple of thunderstorms.


	5. Babysitting

A request made by lackingwxt on tumblr.  
I'm not the best at writing younger characters and this one isn't very centered around Lucaya, more so their individual interaction with the children.  
I know it's been awhile since I've updated this or my other story, **Not Sick** , it's been a mix of not having time what with school&work and also that I haven't felt my creative juices flowing for awhile now. But hopefully, i'll get back into the swing of things!

* * *

 **Babysitting**

 _In which Maya Hart asks Lucas Friar to help babysit her step-siblings._  
 _*Set in high school, either sophomore or junior year._

* * *

A deep humming of notes bounced off tiles and concave shaped objects, barely audible over the sound of running water. Steam lingered in the air, fogging up the mirrors. The humming continued even after Lucas Friar turned the shower head off, reaching for a towel on the rack from behind the shower curtain. Lucas Friar was not one to sing, he was a self-proclaimed tone deaf oaf and so the only person to ever hear himself sing was his mother back when he was 5.

"Because she's everything I ask everything I ask for~" Lucas' deep voice sang out as he went through his motions of brushing his teeth. With the toothbrush in his mouth, he went back to humming.

 **Bzzz! Bzzz!**

His eyes caught sight of the lit up screen of his phone vibrating on the pale green tile of the bathroom counter. 'Penelope Shortstack' read the caller ID. He raised a brow and snatched the iPhone up, pressing the green accept button and pressing it to his ear. He grabbed to toothbrush out of his mouth, speaking with his mouth half full with foamy toothpaste.

"Hello?"

"Huckleberry."

"Uhuh." He took the opportunity to brush his bottom row of teeth.

"I need a favor from you."

Lucas spit and rinsed his mouth, almost surprised at Maya's request.

"A favor? _The_ Maya Hart wants a favor?" With a towel wrapped around his waist, Lucas gathered his dirty clothes and dumped them into the hamper before he walked towards his room.

"Yes, I need a favor." Maya's voice came from the phone's receiver.

"And what can I help you with today, Penelope?" Lucas sat on his bed, a smirk freely positioned on his lips. There was no need to hide it, Maya wasn't there to poke fun at him.

"My dad's dumping his kids on me."

"O…kay?" Lucas wasn't quite sure where she was going with this. What did any of what she was saying had to do with him?

"Well, I need help and Riley's in Philly for the weekend to visit her grandparents."

Lucas ran a hand through his damp dirty blonde hair. "Darn it all Maya, get to the point."

On the other end, Maya took a deep breath, speaking in one go. "There's a leak—or five right now—in my apartment and I would really like your help with these little brats. So what do you say?"

Lucas inhaled and exhaled shortly after. He blinked his green eyes twice, trying to register the mess of words that he just heard Maya come out with. He could feel himself regretting this already, "Alright. Bring 'em over, shortstack. But why couldn't you go to Farkle for this?"

"You know," Maya began, " _because_ you're doing me a huge favor, I'm going to let that slide. But Farkle?" She paused, as if waiting for him to respond. He didn't, she wasn't going to let him anyway. "Really Huckleberry?"

"Point taken."

"So we'll be there around 4."

Lucas pulled his phone away from his ear, the screen lighting up as he checked the time. "That's in thirty minutes."

"Yup! See you soon, Cowboy!"

As if on cue—which was really odd for Maya, she wasn't known to be punctual—Maya's heavy hand rapped on Lucas' front door thirty minutes after the two hung up. He opened the door and stared down at a blonde Maya and two brown haired children.

"Blonde hair is recessive, okay? Gave my dad your address in case anything comes up, by the way. Hope that's okay!" Maya let go of her hold on back of the two children's shirts and they ran wild through out the Friar residence. The two sped passed Lucas and went straight to the kitchen.

Maya sighed, she looked as if she wanted to rip her hair out. She stomped her heeled feet into the kitchen, Lucas, behind her. They found the the little girl on the kitchen counter, the older boy on the kitchen table.

"They were touching literally everything on their way here." Maya grabbed the 6 year old boy from the table and brought him to the kitchen sink. She turned the faucet on, and ran his hands under the water.

Lucas walked to the counter, picking the brunette little girl up and placing her on his hip. "Hey, there," he flashed a smile at her to which she giggled and hid behind her hands. Maya was too busy trying to get her step-brother to use soap to help her little half sister out.

"What's your name?" Lucas watched as the girl looked through her fingers.

"Sophie," came one of the littlest and sweetest sounding voices Lucas had ever heard. He almost aw'd out loud, but he knew Maya would never let him live that one down.

"Well, I'm Lucas. How old are you, Sophie?" Lucas moved the both of them towards the sink once Maya and the boy were done. "This many!" She took her face out from behind her hands and held up her four little chubby fingers. He could tell that she was very excited to show him what with a gapped tooth smile just radiating off her Sophie's face.

"Wow, four years old, huh?" Lucas leaned her over the sink so that she would be able to reach the running water. Sophie shook her hair wildly, brunette locks flying all around her. "Don't wanna wash hands!" Lucas put one of his hands under the water, as if to show her it was okay. "But you have to, Sophie! How do you plan on showing people how old you are, no one's going to look at icky dirty hands."

This made Sophie gasp very dramatically and she shoved her hands under warm water.

Maya raised a brow at this display, leaving her stepbrother to sit on top of the counter. "Wow, good job Ranger Rick. Didn't know you were so great with kids."

Lucas smirked, her compliment feeding his ego. He shrugged his shoulders, feigning being humble. "Guess it just comes naturally to me."

"I'm Tyler." The boy finally spoke up, blue eyes looking up at Lucas. It seemed that he wanted a bit of attention, too.

Lucas hoisted Sophie on his hip again as she wiped her hands on his blue henley. "Nice to meet you, Tyler. How old a—"

"Seven." Tyler cut him off, a small smirk on his little face. Lucas' eye twitched. He looked between Maya and Tyler seeing a resemblance that was not at all physical.

"You like baseball, kid?" Lucas asked in a more relaxed voice, turning off his baby-talk mode. He watched Tyler jump down from the counter top, giving Maya a heart attack. She tugged on his arm, her way of reprimanding him.

"I like football." He gave a toothy grin, showing that he had lost his bottom two teeth. Tyler crossed his arms over his chest, challenging Lucas.

Lucas looked down at Maya, his expression deadpanned. Maya rolled her eyes and took Sophie form his arms once he offered her to her. Maya brought Sophie over to the couch in the living room while the boys stayed in the kitchen.

"Well, football's alright." Lucas mimicked the much shorter and younger boy, 10 years Lucas' junior.

"Alright?!" Tyler spoke with a lisp, outraged that this random guy was insulting his favorite sport. "Are you kidding me, man?! They have a ball, they throw it, and they tackle each other," Tyler's tiny hands smashed into each other, exemplifying how the bodies collided each other, "What's not great about that?!"

"Ohhh," Lucas nodded his head, understanding Tyler's interest in the sport. "So you like the rough stuff? What about wrestling?"

Tyler lit up and jumped up and down. "Heck yeah! John Cena!"

"The people's champion!" Lucas laughed and picked Tyler up and threw him over his shoulder. Tyler stretched his arms and gently punched Lucas' back. That must have been his interpretation of wrestling in real life. Lucas jogged over to the living room, and dumped Tyler onto the couch cushions, nearly getting in the way of what seemed to be a very important and serious conversation between Maya and Sophie.

"Hey!" Both of the girls pouted and looked up at Lucas. "That was mean!" Sophie huffed and gave and over exaggerated pout, eyes nearly shut, brows furrowed, and chest puffed out with her arms over it.

Maya picked up Sophie and placed her in her lap. "Sophie, it's okay. They're just playing."

"But not with me! Why aren't they playing with me?!" Sophie tugged on Maya's hair. The two teens could feel a tantrum coming and Tyler only rolled his eyes and he sat himself on the far end of the couch, away from his moody little sister.

Maya yelped and fought to get her blonde locks out of Sophie's tiny little fists. "It's okay! Ranger Rick doesn't like girls, he likes boys." Maya smiled once Sophie's grip weakened, then looked over at Lucas who was still standing. He pointed a stern finger at Maya, "Not true."

He finally moved to sit beside Maya and gently took Sophie's hands in his large ones. "Sorry, Sophie. We can play later if you'd like."

Sophie crawled off of Maya's lap and sat on Lucas'. Tyler quickly took a seat in Maya's lap once it was unoccupied.

Sophie looked up at Lucas with large green eyes. "How come sister calls you Ranger Rick?" Lucas tapped the tip of Sophie's little button nose. "It's a nickname. Like Shortstack."

Maya sighed and rolled her eyes, having Tyler chuckle at her. "Ha! You're short."

Sophie was still staring at Lucas. "I call Maya shortstack?"

Maya groaned loudly and tyler laughed again. "Please don't get them started Hopalong."

Tyler was cracking up, "Hopalong!? Shortstack!? You guys are great."

Lucas smiled at all three of them and then shook his head at Sophie. "Afraid not ma'am." Sophie pouted again, but before she could grab his hair, Lucas leaned back, "That's my nickname for her."

"Well what 'bout me?" Sophie raised her hand, asking for a nickname as well.

"Well you can be," Lucas paused and bit on his lip, taking his time to examine Sophie. She had shoulder length wavy hair that curled back at the ends, a button nose, and large green eyes. She also had a small beauty mark by her left eye that resembled a shape very much like a crown.

"Princess." Lucas placed his large pal onto of Sophie's head, ruffling her hair a little, to which she gave a giggle and blushed.

"And you," The Friar looked over at Tyler, trying really hard not to laugh through the whole thing. Tyler pointed at himself, "Me? Please don't give me a nickname, you guys suck at those!"

Lucas shrugged his shoulders and bounced Sophie up and down on his knees, giving her the majority of his attention. "Alright, whatever you say…" He paused dramatically then looked back at Tyler, "…Champ."

"Aw yeah!" Tyler shot his fist into the air, then sang the theme of John Cena's entrance to the ring from WWE as he ran around the living room.

Sophie looked over at Maya. They both shared a sigh. At the same time, they shook their heads, "Boys."

Maya giggled and scooped Sophie from Lucas' lap and brought her back into her own. "I knew we were related, little one."

Lucas stood up from the couch and snapped the finger of his right hand, bringing the palm of his left onto of her right, a slight smacking sound left over from the action. "So, who's hungry?"

"Me me me!" Lucas was surprised to hear all three of the siblings chime in almost in complete harmony.

"Alright," Lucas made his way back into the kitchen, a pair of brown haired children and a blonde teen following right behind in a straight line. "But since I have to cook, Maya is gonna have to watch you."

"Yay!" The two children rejoiced and ran around the kitchen table while Maya stood still, glaring at the much taller and much more tanned boy. She pointed her finger at him, " _You_ …" Her voice was venomous.

" _Me_ ," He playfully mocked her tone, grabbing her finger and swaying it left and right a few times.

Lucas was cooking in the kitchen while Maya was left to chase Tyler and Sophie around the Friar house. He prepared a dinner for four, his mother out for full day. He washed and rinsed the salad, cutting up cucumbers and carrots to add into it. He boiled the water, strained the pasta, heat up the sauce. All the while, he could hear Maya's struggle with two adolescent children coming from the other room.

"Sophie, please don't make a mess." Maya chased Sophie around, making sure that none of her crayons collided with any of Mrs. Friar's white walls. Sophie giggled and found it to be a game of tag. Suddenly, the little girl proclaimed, "The floor is lava!"

Tyler, who was playing on the floor, gathered up his toy cars and jumped onto the couch. Maya groaned for the umptheetnth time that day and knocked her shoes off and jumped on the coffee table. Sophie jumped on an ottoman.

Maya crouched on the table, putting her right hand in front of her as if Sophie were a wild beast ready to attack. "Sophie. Just put the crayons down." The blonde Hart spoke very slowly and cautiously, making that nothing that she would say would set Sophie off.

Sophie's eyes had a small spark in them as she smiled and jumped off the ottomon, "I no playing Lava floor no more!" Maya growled and jumped off the coffee table with such force that it sent the table back a couple of inches.

"You little brat, get back here!" Maya chased her up the stairs, catching sight of her pink dress just before it disappeared around the corner. Maya slid to a halt, the wooden floors slippery underneath her blue socks. Maya's blue eyes darted back and forth between the many rooms.

"Crap."

Maya picked the a door to her right, turning the knob and letting herself in. Her nose was assaulted by the smell of cologne. It wasn't very strong, but definitely not light. It was there, and it made her whole body feel tingly. Her eyes glanced around, looking at the walls. The first thing she noticed visibly was the color of his walls. They were a bright blue, reminiscent of the shade of her own icy blue eyes. Next, she saw awards, plaques, trophies, all displayed on wooden shelves that were mounted on the wall.

Maya stepped onto the plush white carpet, running a finger across a desk on her right as she stepped into the room further. "Typical Huckleberry." She chuckled lowly to herself, completely forgetting about her younger step-sister.

She paused at the wall parallel to the wall that a full-size bed was against. There was a frame there, little pictures stuck between the glass and the frame's back. If she wasn't sure about this room belonging to Lucas, then she was definitely knew now. The pictures were of him and numerous people. There was a picture of him and some friends of his from Texas, one of Zay and him, and a couple of him and his mother.

There was also a picture of Lucas, Riley and Farkle. It was a picture she took of them in the high school library. She was never one for pictures, she hardly approved of any of herself. The last picture she willingly took was for the yearbook this year. She was more than happy to skip that day, but she needed to get her schedule for the rest of the school year from the front office.

To the right of the that picture, slightly larger, was the year book picture of Lucas and herself from 7th grade, the one that won them Favorite Couple. That day—the whole week, actually—had definitely been interesting. She laughed reminiscing at how peeved off Lucas was that everyone was trying to change up who they were. So much for being 'Most Likely to be Okay with Everything'.

"Maya!" Sophie's voice rang out from behind her, taking her off guard. Maya jumped in her spot, but composed herself before turning around to find Sophie running back down the stairs. Quickly, Maya chased after her again, making sure that she wouldn't be held responsible for a broken bone.

Maya finally caught up to Sophie at the bottom of the staircase and scooped her up, lifting her over her head to sit on her shoulders. Sophie giggled wildly and it took a great amount of effort to keep from falling over what with the toddler on her shoulders swaying back and forth erratically.

Maya crashed onto the couch next to Tyler who was still making sound effects for his toy cars. She sat Maya down beside her, keeping an arm around her so that she would be aware of if the little devil would go running off again. She grabbed some paper from the Hello Kitty backpack that held all of Sophie's art supplies and set it on the coffee table. "Okay. Draw on the paper, not on the walls, you little princess."

Sophie looked over at Maya, surprised to hear her big step-sister use the nickname that Lucas had just given her. She never pegged Maya as the fun sibling.

"So champ," Maya leaned her elbows on her knees, looking over at whatever Tyler was doing, "Which one's your favorite toy?" Tyler stopped playing with the cars and ran over to his own backpack by the door. He brought it over and dumped all of its contents on the ground. Amongst all the toys was one that he favorited. Grabbing it carefully, he brought it to the table and set it down on the center.

"Interesting," Maya picked up the figurine and examined its features, "The Hulk, eh?" Tyler nodded his head violently. "Yes! He's big and strong. I wanna be him when I grow up." Maya placed three sheets of paper, one in front of herself, Sophie, and Tyler. She grabbed a thick crayon from Sophie's crayon box, "How about we all try to draw the Hulk then, yeah?"

 **~[*]~**

Lucas emerged from the kitchen, apron tied around his waist, with two plates of Fettuccine alfredo held in his hands. "What are you guys up to?"

Tyler and Sophie held up their drawings—both of which he had no clue of what— and spoke at the same time, trying to talk over the other. Maya laughed and stood up from the couch, placing both of her hands onto of her siblings' heads.

She bent over at her waist and started to clean up the coffee table while Lucas placed the plates on top of it. "Didn't know you were such a great cook, Ranger Rick."

Lucas left the room momentarily and fetched the last two plates—one for him, the other for Maya— and placed it on the table. "There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Maya." Maya nodded her head and placed all of the crayons, art supplies, and toys back into Sophie and Tyler's backpacks, "Yeah, I guess there is."

When she sat back down on the couch, Tyler and Sophie were already munching on their food. Tyler was fumbling around with his fork while Lucas was feeding Sophie. "You got that little munchkin to eat something green?" Maya's brows raised in disbelief.

"Yup," Lucas smiled up at her, "Princesses eat their veggies, ain't that right Sophie." The little girl nodded, mouth full of lettuce, carrots, and cucumbers.

"Now," Lucas began, looking very seriously at Sophie and her brother, "My mama doesn't let me do this, but since you two are my guests, this is a very special occasion." He leaned over and reached behind him towards the table positioned against the couch and grabbed a remote. He pointed it at the TV and turned it on. He started flipping through the channels, making sure to quickly change it if there was anything remotely inappropriate for a 4 and 7 year old.

"Hercules!" The two children squealed out. Lucas placed the remote back in its place and nodded his head before feeding Sophie another mouthful of salad. "Good choice."

Maya raised a brow at the television set, placing a fork full of pasta in her mouth. She raised her hand in front of her mouth as she spoke, slightly muffled from the food. "I've never seen this one before."

All three of them looked at Maya in complete shock. "Never?!" all three of them rang out.

Lucas and Tyler convinced Maya to watch, telling her that it was a classic and that she must have been living under a rock if she had never seen it.

The night went on and each of them finished their dinners, Sophie proclaiming that she was a real princess with Tyler telling them that he was going to grow up strong like the Hulk. By the time they were finished eating, the Hercules movie on TV was barely half way through.

Maya's snoring interrupted the Movie about 45 minutes in and all of them laughed and pointed at her. Shortly after, Lucas' doorbell rang and it was time for Maya's siblings to leave. He walked them out and let Maya sleep on his couch. He could only imagine what she had to go through while he was in the kitchen.

Lucas grabbed a blanket and draped it over Maya's body before sitting down next to her, deciding to finish watching one of his favorite Disney movies. Beside him, he could hear Maya's soft breathing and every so often, Maya would let out a very gentle snore. He smirked reveling in the fact that now he had something to hold over Maya. That one time in seventh grade that she was snoring was a joke, she wasn't actually asleep. But now? Lucas was sure she was passed out.

The dirty blonde teen was sitting with Maya on his left, her shoulder touching his arm. He looked over a at her as she stirred in her sleep. She was moving restlessly and he could only imagine what she was dreaming about. She started to lean towards him, and he swore his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets when she pressed herself against him. Awkwardly, he raised his arm and wrapped it around her form. As if on instinct, the very asleep Maya snuggled up into his side and laid her head against his chest. Lucas was staring down at the blonde head of hair that belonged to Maya Hart.

A soft smile escaped him and he pressed his lips just atop of her head, giving her a very sweet and innocent kiss to her forehead. He could see her cheeks raise from above, as if she were smiling. Was she awake?

"Thanks, Lucas. You're the best."

Lucas hummed softly, rubbing his thumb in circles against her shoulder.

"Anytime, Maya."

* * *

As always, leave a review telling me what you think!


	6. Shortstack

This one was based off of tumblr user mmmmwhatchazay's head cannon.

* * *

 **Shortstack**

 _In which Maya Hart comes to school not wearing heels.  
*Set sometime after Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels. You can decide when though.  
***Grumpy Maya calls for a little bit of Humor_

* * *

Humid air lingered in the atmosphere down in the tunnels of the subway. It was always like this, making New Yorkers cringe at the feel of their clothes sticking to their skin. No matter what the weather was outside, the subways tunnels were always at least 5 degrees hotter. Be it because of the massive amount of bodies or the heat that radiated off of the subway cars' engines, it was something that not even Maya Hart could get used to and she practically grew up on a subway train.

The blonde was about to exit the car and step onto the platform, but someone behind her decided that they were more important and shoved her aside, making Maya lose her balance. "Seriously?!" Maya's heeled bootie became lodged in the gap between the landing platform and the train and with a few gentle tugs, she realized that it was a way more serious problem. Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in panic. Throngs of people walked passed her as she stood there with her heel stuck, not paying her any mind.

Maya looked left and right, trying to find someone willing to help. It was no use, adults were rushing to get to their jobs and teens were trying to get to school. It was almost time for the double doors to close on the train and Maya refused to lose a leg that day. Though, Maya did contemplate it, thinking that it would be a very good and valid excuse to skip school today.

She planted her right foot firmly on the ground and tugged on her left leg with all her might, trying to dislodge the wooden heel.

 _ **Pop!**_

The look on Maya's face went from completely shocked and panicked to one that resembled something akin to annoyance and disbelief. Her raised eyebrows quickly dropped down on her forehead and her eyes closed slightly, glaring at whatever she was currently staring at.

Though her foot was now free, she didn't dare put it down. She had stumbled and hopped on one foot off of the thick yellow cautionary line in her struggle. Maya sucked on her teeth and clicked her tongue against the roof of her both before she whipped her head back to look at her foot behind her in the air.

"Really? Like, _actually_. You're serious right now?!" Maya Hart exclaimed in the still busy station. The fact that she was talking to only herself drew the attention of many. They all wondered if she was all there upstairs. Maya grumbled loudly and glared at anyone that gave her an odd look as she stomped out of the station, limping on one leg.

A very happy and chipper Riley Matthews finished up at the table while Auggie and Topanga worked on clearing breakfast, putting dishes into the sink. "I wonder what's taking Maya so long to get here," Riley looked at the clock on the wall and walked over to her bag on the couch.

Loud stomping could be heard out in the hallway and Riley's face lit up, "There she is!" Turning on her heel, the brunette opened up the apartment door to find a very peeved off Maya. Riley raised a well groomed brow at the blonde and stepped aside to let her best friend in. "Um, is everything alright, peaches?"

Maya stared straight forward at the wall behind Topanga and let out a sigh of frustration, "Oh, I don't know honey," she took a couple steps inside, limping again. The Matthews all stopped what they were doing, paying attention to the honorary Matthews stomping around in their living room. It was quite a humorous scene, every time Maya would step on her left foot she would lose about three inches in height, only to pop back up when she stood on her right foot. "Do I _look_ alright?!"

Riley and Topanga met with Maya, both had their hands folded in front of them nervously. "Do you need to borrow some of my shoes for today?" Riley suggested, looking down at Maya's ruined black heeled booties.

Maya shook her head, her expression still frustrated. "No, Riley. I _can't_ ," She looked down at Riley's feet and motioned her hand at them, "You have giganto feet and I have fetus ones!"

" _Hey_!" Riley let out, offended. Topanga caught herself laughing and folded her arms over her chest, looking over at her daughter. "She has a point. You're 14 years old now and you wear a size 9 and a half."

Topanga took a step back and examined Maya, eyes looking her up and down. Maya was wearing some high waisted olive green skinny cargo pants, a mustard yellow long-sleeved crop top and a denim vest. "Lucky for you, I also have fetus feet. Be right back." The mother of two left the best friends in the living room while she rushed to her room, bringing back a pair of shoes. "Unfortunately, these are the only ones I have that go with your outfit, sweetie."

Maya looked at the offered shoes. They were a pair of tan suede Clarks that had absolutely no heel. She could feel her eyes twitching. As if on cue, Topanga put a hand on her shoulder. "I know, us shortstacks need our height, but I know you can go a day without it."

Maya's posture slackened, her shoulders hunching over as she reluctantly took the shoes from Topanga's hand and trudged towards the couch, sitting to take off her ruined heels. Slowly, she slipped into Topanga's shoes, almost crying when she stood up, more than significant amount shorter than her very tall best friend.

Maya let out a whine, it almost sounded as if she were about to cry, "It's so _different_ down here, Riles!"

Riley smiled and pulled her best friend close, wrapping her arms around her, "I know peaches, I know." Riley's hand pet her head and Maya growled, knowing Riley was only doing it because of her shorter than usual stature.

The whole way to school, Riley was pulling a very upset Maya Hart behind her. Now that they were at school, it was no different.

"Everyone's looking at me Riley!" Maya looked at the ground, avoiding all the looks that the students in the hallway were giving her.

Riley took out her history book from her locker then shut the door with a sigh. She turned around to Maya and rolled her eyes at the much shorter girl. "No one's even _looking_ at you, suck it up you big baby."

Maya pouted her lips and let out a huff of air, acting like the big baby she was accused of being. She followed behind Riley as they entered the class. Looking over at her seat from the door, she saw the tall tanned boy of her nightmares, Lucas Friar. "Hey Riley," Lucas called out. She watched as his green eyes found her and she swore he could see the gears turning in his head.

Riley made her way to her desk and sat down, looking towards Maya when she noticed she hadn't moved from her spot at the doorway. "Maya, stop being ridiculous and come sit down."

Maya did as told, but before she could even sit her rump on her chair, Lucas stood up and stood in her way. He was absolutely towering over her. Riley was tall and all, but Lucas Friar was taller. Much taller.

It was a moment until Lucas' lips tugged into a smirk, arms crossing over his chest. He was a bit more than a full head taller than her. Her eyes were looking straight forward, which were at his chest. She refused to look up at him, it would be like admitting defeat.

Lucas cleared his throat, " _Maya_?"

He was asking her to meet his gaze.

"Nope, no way, Huckleberry!" She shook her head, wavy blonde hair bouncing behind her.

With a playful chuckle and roll of his eyes, Lucas lifted Maya's chin with his index finger, forcing her to look up at him. Her icy blues glared into his greens and she could feel her right eye twitching.

"You really _are_ a shortstack of pancakes, aren't you?"

To the right of them, Darby and Sarah were giving each other looks, their eyes motioning towards the two in front of them.

The bell rang and Mr. Matthews entered the classroom, placing his briefcase on his desk. "Seats, everyone." He leaned forward on his desk, palms pressed against the wooden piece of furniture. "Mr. Friar? Ms. Hart?"

An animalistic growl left Maya and she turned her whole body around quickly, her hair whipping Lucas in the face. This forced him to take a step back which in turn allowed Maya the room to quickly slip into her seat.

Maya let out a sight, hunched forward on her desk. She felt low, _really_ low.

 _Wait, what is this?!_

Maya Hart's eyes went wide, looking down at her feet. They weren't even touching the ground! This was such a foreign feeling, she couldn't remember the last time this had happened. She swung her legs back and forth, feeling the air beneath her legs.

 _Screw this day._

Behind her, Lucas tilted his head in curiosity. What in the world was Maya hart doing? Her body was fidgeting ever so slightly and it was drawing his attention away from the chalkboard. He leaned forward, speaking to the back of a blonde head, "Psst. Maya?"

Maya stayed leaned back in her chair, closing some of the distance between her and the boy. She continued to swing her feet, "What do you want, Ranger Rick?"

With Maya pressed against the back of her chair, Lucas could see her feet swinging underneath her. He scoffed, catching his laugh in his throat before it could escape through his lips. "Nothing, nevermind, _Shortstack_." He emphasized the nickname and pressed his back against his own chair.

He stretched out his long legs, placing them underneath Maya's desk. He placed with his pencil in his hands, twirling it between his index fingers and thumbs. A smirk danced on his pink lips, watching Maya check down at her feet when she felt her feet come in contact with his shins.

Lucas' feet were positioned under her own. Relaxing her legs, she found that if she sat back in her chair, her feet would rest perfectly on top of his own. It felt right. It felt like she could touch the ground again. Sure, it was silly, but she felt tall again.

Maya Hart looked behind her to a find a smirking Lucas, eyes looking straight at hers as if he had waited for her to look back. She couldn't help but smirk as she rolled her eyes. Maya adjusted her body to point more towards the door of the room rather than the chalkboard to allow for a comfortable position as she moved her right arm to lean against Lucas' desk.

Without moving his legs—which pained him slightly by the way—from under her feet, he leaned forward and whispered close to Maya's ear. "Better, _Shortstack_?"

Maya turned towards him a little more and looked him up and down and grabbed the pencil in his hands, placing it behind her ear. She honestly had no reason to do it, she didn't need a pencil. When did she take notes? It was only to annoy him. This was their game after all.

"Yeah. Lots better, _Hopalong_."


End file.
